Exploring Artwork with Explosives

This Iceland-based sculptor, architect and visual artist, who is in the city, talks to CT about his artwork, interests and more.

This Iceland-based sculptor, architect and visual artist, who is in the city, talks to CT about his artwork, interests and more.

Gudjon Bjarnason is a visual artist, a sculptor and a professional architect who is now looking forward to reshaping Chennai's skyline. Collaborating with Roopa Shetty's new city-based designing studio, Gudjon will be engaged in conceiving, designing and developing new interior and architectural projects.

His works have been called progressive and have been exhibited extensively in Europe, USA and Asia. This Icelandic sculptor-cum-architect gets to blow things up for a living. His creations are very unorthodox where he uses high explosives. "I have been using explosives for my metal works for the past 15 years. I blow up things but it is done scientifically," says Gudjon.

How did he come up with this idea? "I was having a discussion with a very prominent architect and we were discussing the smooth surfaces in Scandinavian architectures. By the end of the discussion we concluded that underneath the smoothness was a very explosive psychological energy and we wanted it to come out in the open," explains Gudjon.

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According to him, "There's a certain kind of energy that comes from these forms caused by explosions. It doesn't fit our ideas of symmetry and balance; instead, it's the opposite, which suggests a new way of seeing."

When he displayed his works in Texas he had the US military help him out with the explosives. In India however, Gudjon is unclear how he will proceed with using high explosives.

In India, this progressive painter, sculptor and architect will be designing luxury villas, hotels, etc. So what should Chennai lookout for?

"Green, sustainable buildings are the need of this age and I welcome this technology. It is going to be very exciting working here as I'll get to do everything from scratch," he says. He also added, "Here, my designs will be two-dimensional in nature."